This is my second Christmas in Italy, and I now think that I am getting the hang of how the Italians like to celebrate the festive season! Just like in the UK, the Italians start their celebrations early! On December 8th, which is a public holiday to celebrate the Immaculate Conception. This is the conception…
It’s now officially Christmas in our house as we’ve opened the first panettone of the year! As always, I like to use any leftovers of anything I use, so I’ve been thinking of ways to use any leftover panettone that might be lurking around after Christmas.
Even when I lived in England, it was never Christmas until I’d watched “It’s A Wonderful Life” and opened my first panettone of the season. Imagine my excitement when I found out there was a panettone festival just up the road in Milan! Naturally I had to get tickets for my wife and I as…
So, we have now been in Italy for just over a year. I thought now was a good time to share the good and bad things that we have experienced during the last year.
It’s now November, and the summer festival season in Italy is coming to a close. However, as always, it goes out with a bang – Cioccolandia, a day long festival of fabulous chocolate! Willy Wonka could learn a lot from this festival! Every year the town of Castel San Giovanni turns into a chocolate lover’s delight.…
I live in a beautiful town called Piacenza and I love its local food and wine. It is often overlooked by people visiting the Emilia Romagna region. They either they think that were in Lombardia (we’re right on the border), or they bypass us for the more famous tourist places like Bologna, Parma, Modena or…
It’s that time of the year in Italy when they seem to have a wine festival every week. However, this is a very good thing in my book. Last week myself, my wife and a work colleague visited the food and wine festival in Fiorenzuola. This is a village which is a village about 15…
One of the best things that I’ve discovered about Italy is the “aperitivo.” It’s such a civilised way to spend some time with your friends, and experience some of the Italian ‘la dolce vita.’
As you will have read in my last post, Italians treat food as a religion, and there are very definite ways how dishes should be prepared. Another thing that annoys Italians is when a dish is claimed as “Italian” by someone, even by “Italian restaurants” abroad, with dishes that have never graced an Italian dining table.…
If you ask what the world’s favourite Italian dish is, a large amount will say spaghetti bolognese. The problem is that it doesn’t exist in Italy!
Why do I love Eataly? Everyone who knows me is aware of my hatred and loathing of supermarkets, and their row upon row of perfectly packaged meat and vegetables. However, if every one was like Eataly, then I would change my views in an instant!
Chocolate, tomatoes, pizza, gelato. Whatever they choose, one of the many things I love about Italy is that there seems to a food festival almost every week. So, when I spotted a festival celebrating chocolate just down the road from me, I all but packed my tent so I could be first in the queue.